February 26, 2012

Another week has flown by here in the CCM! It's crazy! Next week we'll be on our 5th week here! I can't believe how quickly time has gone. But I'm happy it's going quick here in the CCM because I want to get out to Argentina! Let's begin on the highlights of this week!

- Every Wednesday morning at 6:15, we do service. And what have we done every single week? Clean bathrooms. Yup! We have to wear these dorky goggles and huge gloves and scrub urinals and toilets for an hour and a half. It's the BEST! I LOVE IT! Haha, so I'm being a little sarcastic, but we try and make the best of it.

- This week, we've been trying to learn a new teaching strategy. We're only going to take 30 seconds to say part of the lesson then switch off. It's been a challenge but is so much better than assigning parts! We are more unified and speak with one voice. It can be tough, but I think it will really help us out! We've also been working on keeping our lessons simple. After all, we're not here to offer information, we're here to offer salvation.

- So read Alma 16:16. Hermano Larsen told us that we are not only helping people to come unto Christ, but we are helping the people of Argentina prepare for the second coming of our Savior. How crazy is that? Our calling is so so important.

- Consider the first vision in ESPANOL memorized! YEAH!

- This past Tuesday, me and my companions did MTC choir. We sang 'Be Still My Soul' and OH MY GOSH. It was the most beautiful arrangement. I am by no means a singer, but I felt the spirit SO STRONG when singing that song. Our devotional was about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon WITH our investigators! We have got to help them understand the symbolism and be there to answer questions. Once they can gain a strong testimony through the Book of Mormon, there is nothing to keep them from baptism.

- 2 of our 5 districts have left to go into the field! We haven't gotten a new district in so long. We're still the babies of the zone and our zone is SO SMALL!! We will be getting a new one next week though, but they're all Elders. No Hermanas this time! Our sacrament is so small now. Did you know that we prepare talks on certain subjects IN SPANISH every week and you only find out if you're speaking when they call you from the pulpit? Yeah, it's a little nerve wracking... But we'll have 9 sacrament talks written in Spanish for the field!

- We got new roommates this week, only two. Sister Thornton and Sister Marshall. Both are going to German speaking missions. Marshall is from England too! She's super nice but snores like a freight train. Ughhh. Dad, she could give you a run for your money. I just pray every night that I fall asleep before she starts snoring. Poor Sister Thornton hasn't slept in 2 nights :(

- Elise Leavitt is now in the MTC! I graduated with her and she will be serving in the Buenos Aires mission. It's like a Lone Peak reunion in our residency! There's me, Kaitlyn Brunsdale, Shelby Curtis, and Elise... ALL ON THE SAME FLOOR! We should take a picture sometime.

- I just LOVE my teachers here at the MTC. Hermano Larsen loves us SO MUCH and wants us to be our best. He is the greatest teacher and has helped me grow so much. My district has become my family, and now I have 5 little brothers that I can talk to about anything. Our Elders are SO great. I wish I could squeeze them all.

- I can honestly say that the gift of tongues is REAL! Before the CCM, I couldn't roll my 'R's. Well guess who's a rollin R MACHINE?! ME! Ahhh the power of the Lord is SO AMAZING! Everyday I am so grateful for this work. I have so many weaknesses, but my Heavenly Father is helping me to be better. I have been praying more sincerely, studying harder, and listening for the spirit in my every decision, be it teaching or anything else. THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! There's no way I could progress so quickly in Spanish without the Spirit! I've been here 24 days!!! God loves us all! He has a perfect plan and He knows what is best for us. We just need to trust in Him! I love EACH AND EVERY ONE of you so much. I pray for you all every day.

February 17, 2012

I know, my Spanish is SO GOOD! Well, another week has flown by here at the CCM. All the days mush together here and go by so quickly. I'm loving my time here and I love feeling the unique spirit that resides here at the CCM. All these sweet 19 year old boys are so homesick but trying their best to be wonderful servants of the Lord. I really do admire them! And all the sisters!

-So Hna Hinze said that her birthday was the best thing ever. Our whole zone met together in our tiny class and surprised her! She was very touched.

- Our roommates left for St. George and we were supposed to get new sisters in our room but we didn't! So we're having a week to ourselves in a room for 6! YEAH! Hna Hinze and I switched beds so we are no longer by the door. Hallelujah. Also, can I just say that I LOVE my companeras? They are the greatest things ever. Hinze and I are the most sarcastic people and Brown is just sassy. What a combo! Last night right as we went to bed, we just sat and LAUGHED for 10 minutes straight. I am so blessed to have them in my life.

- At the devotional on Tues, I met another Sister Squire. Yup, SQUIRE! And the creepy thing was that we were wearing the SAME skirt in different colors. Weird. Our Devotional was from Elder Clarke from the 70 and was SO AMAZING! He talked about praying for the people of our missions NOW. I had never thought of that! But now, every night I am praying for the people I need to find in Bahia. Praying that they will be prepared and ready to recieve this great message. Elder Clark mentioned the scripture DC 101:1 saying our families are WELL and in God's hands! I really don't worry about you all anymore! I know God will take care of you and bless you!

- We have new investigators- Ruben y Sergio. Ruben is a 17 year old from Dominican Republic and is just rough around the edges but very humble. Sergio used to be an alcoholic and is so apathetic. It's frustrating teaching him because he just doesn't care! 'I don't like to read the bible' 'I don't like church' blah blah blah. I just want to whap him on the head!! We're working on figuring out how to teach him and get him to realize that he needs to change. Our teachers (since they role play our investigators) told us something so cool about the people they play. They are actual converts that THEY taught on their missions, and when we pray so much for them and try our best to figure out their needs, the actual converts, wherever they are, get blessings. That's why the spirit works so much during these role play lessons!

- I have a commitment to extend to everyone. Go on lds.org and WATCH Elder Hollands talk from Oct 2009 conference called Safety for the Soul. WATCH it, don't read it. It is an amazing testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. When you think about it, would Hyrum and Joseph really died for a book if it weren't true? We started a tradition of watching 1 conference talk every Sunday during our study time. It really helps boost us up!

- We met with the Argentine Consulate on Thursday. She came all the way from LA to come talk to us! She told us all about Argentina and answered our many questions. She was the cutest little lady with an amazing accent and I loved listening to her! It made me SO EXCITED to get to Argentina! I might never come home! I already love the people so much and I haven't even met them.

- Every day we sing and pray in Spanish, and I LOVE IT! I might never sing hymns in English again! It's so beautiful. My Spanish is coming along well, I'm still having a hard time expressing myself, but I understand about 90% of what's going on. Right now, I'm working on memorizing the First Vision in Spanish. Not as easy as it sounds! It's so funny because I feel like I can't speak English OR Spanish anymore! It's like weird Spanglish gibberish. Funny story: the other night I had a half dream that Hno Larsen was in our room teaching Spanish. I kept taking out my ear plug to try and listen... I'm pretty sure my comp talks in her sleep so that's what I was hearing. I kept thinking, GO AWAY HERMANO LARSEN! I DON"T WANT TO SPEAK SPANISH RIGHT NOW! I'M TIRED! Haha.

- 3 Elders in our zone are going to LUBBOCK!! So you Lubbock people... keep a lookout for Elder Rodriguez and two others whose names I can't remember!

- The coolest thing at the temple is having people pray for the missionaries during the session. It's like HEY! I'M a missionary! I love that, and it means so much more to me now.

- We had a workshop where each missionary played the role of a potential investigator. The other missionary teaching got to see the screen where as the 'investigator' didn't but had to listen to this hard life these people had. Then we took turns teaching. It made me realize that the atonement of Christ is for EVERYONE. No matter your circumstances. Loved that day.

- So I am probably the most spoiled/loved missionary at the MTC. THANK YOU for the letters/dearelders/packages! I just got the Hiatts letter. THANK YOU! I loved hearing from you all. Everyone makes fun of me since I get a package almost every day! But it's a-okay with me! TPK- you guys make me laugh! I'm sure at the Argentine MTC they are wondering who the heck this Hermana Squire is, that's getting all of the dearelders! Please send those to the PROVO MTC! That's the first thing you click before sending the dear elder. Kels- bachelor update? Thank you all!! I love you all so much and I LOVE THIS WORK! My favorite part of the day is putting on my badge that bears the name of Christ. I am His servant and He trusts me with His children in Bahia Blanca! I want to make sure I'm the BEST MISSIONARY for Him! I'm still in awe that He trusts me with His work! Have a wonderful week and remember I'm praying for all of you and LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Hermana Squire

From her mom:

Feel free to email Cydnee at cydnee.squire@myldsmail.net

or dearelder.com; after you sign in for an account, which is free; be sure to pick PROVO MTC on first page. It will go to the second page..which is where you put her name, box #207; departure date 0403; ARG-BABL mission code. If you send a dearelder.com letter before noon, she gets it later that day. IF YOU DO NOT PICK PROVO MTC, she will not get the letter! (if you are choosing the Argentina BABL, then letter goes to Argentina!!..aye aye aye!)

February 10, 2012

Hola!
How is everyone!? Well, I'm not a newbie in the MTC anymore. On
Wednesday I got to welcome the new missionaries with their dork dots
all afternoon! We just got back from the temple, and oh man, it was
needed. Pdays are the best... temple, emails, and laundry. Ok, I don't
know where to start, and this countdown in the corner always stresses
me out. So, I'm going to do a bullet style sort of email if you don't
mind! Here we go!
-So Sunday was fast Sunday, and they do make you participate in a 24
hour fast. Oh man. I almost passed out at the end, but I did it! We
had a great fireside and the whole day was just spiritually uplifting.
- Tuesday we had another great devotional by a bishop... who I don't
remember his name... but he talked about the importance of having the
spirit with us ALWAYS. Without the spirit, we cannot teach. That is so
true! I am working hard on being worthy to have the spirit with me at
all times.
-Favian, aka our investigator. We had 4 lessons with him, yes all in
Spanish, and I think they went well! We taught most of the first
lesson with him, and were going to finish up and commit him to baptism
on our next lesson but it got cancelled because we had a visa meeting
with all the missionaries going to Argentina. More on that in a bit.
So anyway, we were pretty bummed that we couldn't finish up our
lessons with Favian, but then we found out he's going to be our other
teacher. Tricky tricky! His real name is Hermano Acana, and he'll be
team teaching with Hermano Larsen. It will be helpful because he can
tell us our strengths and weaknesses as teachers!
- We learned that in the MTC, the first week is to teach us to rely on
the Lord. We teach investigators the 2nd day, without knowing any
spanish or teaching skills. THEN, they teach us how to teach and a
little bit more Spanish. It was definitely a humbling experience.
- On Thurs, we missed our appt with Favian because of the visa
meeting. We got finger printed and next Thurs we get to meet with a
consulate. It's WAY lucky because some Elders in our zone just barely
met with a consulate and they were supposed to leave on Tuesday! Que
triste! Hopefully they get out of her next week. It's nice to know
that our visas are well on their way. I'd hate to be delayed.
- I love my district and my zone. We have such a close relationship
with each other and it's just the greatest. We all sit together at
lunch, and I think that creates a lot of unity. All the Elders are
just great and super nice to the Hermanas, except I think a few are
afraid of us... We have a little Australian Elder whose parents are
from Chile. He's like 5'4 and the most adorable thing. My comps and I
agree that he is the cutest thing and we just want to take him and put
him in our pockets. REALLY SO ADORABLE! Ah, I wish you all could meet
him. The Elders in our district are great. They never let us take our
trays back, and always hold open doors. One of the mothers of an Elder
in our zone sent him a huge bag of bouncy balls. It is the best thing
EVER! When we need a mental break, we just play with the bouncy balls.
Simple minds, simple pleasures right?
- So I did see Jamie Swindler! My comp got shingles, so we had to go
to the health clinic. She is the sweetest! I've also seen Elder Chris
Nelson. He is doing very well! I see people I know all the time and I
just love it. It's nice to see them and be reminded of home. It's very
comforting!
- I found out that my comp Hna Hinze loves Fleet Foxes. So pretty
much, we were meant to be friends. It's funny because I don't really
miss too much about the social world, like facebook, pinterest or
blogging, but I really do miss music.
- The great thing about being in a trio is that we can 'chain'. Let me
explain. When one of us needs a drink from the fountain around the
corner, she would walk out there and one sister would stand by the
door of our class and the other at the corner. That way we are always
in sight of each other. Ridiculous, but effective, right?
- I feel like I need to explain the Spanish situation. Only the
Advanced class would allow me to leave in 3 weeks. BUT the advanced
class is for the fluent ones, you learn teaching skills in Spanish,
and I need to be taught how to be a better teacher in English. In the
intermediate class, I would still be here 9 weeks. So I'm not leaving
for Argentina for a while! Don't worry! My Spanish has been improving,
I can now pray and testify in Spanish! All our prayers and hymns are
in Spanish and I LOVE IT. You better believe I pray for all of you in
ESPANOL!
Thank you ALL so much for the dearelders. I seriously love them!
We get them every night and it really is such a boost. Serna family,
thank you for the email and congrats to Leah on 2nd place in the
spelling bee! So great! Taylor- thanks for the email and good luck in
Philly! I'll send a letter your way soon. Haddy- love you so much.
Look for a letter. Kelsey: PLEASE SEND ME MORE BACHELOR UPDATES! I
nearly died reading it, it was the best thing ever. My comp loves
Bachelor too, so keep it up! Love you! Tio Hector y Tia Alice, thanks
so much for the kind words! I love each and every one of you, and
guess what? So does Heavenly Father. I know He is aware of each of you
and loves you so so much! Take care everyone!
Much Love,
Hermana Squire

February 5, 2012

Hola! I made it to the MTC and I'm alive! It's been a crazy 4 days, but I'm here and I'm loving it. My pdays will be on Fridays, we only have kinda a weird half day today. So! Let's get started, shall we?

On my first day, I said goodbye to my family and was lead to the sister's residency. It's actually pretty nice! I was able to take the elevator up with my luggage, so mom, I didn't have to carry my luggage up to the top floor! My host dropped my luggage off in the room (3 bunks, 6 sisters) and we went off to the bookstore to pick up my books. I got a heavy package of spanish books, grammar books, and even el Libro de Mormon y La Santa Biblia en Espanol! They emboss them for free here at the MTC so we'll be doing that soon! I went off to my classroom where I will be spending the majority of the next 9 weeks. We don't switch classes, so we just leave all our books in the classroom, it's super nice. I met my companions... yes, companions! I am in a trio with 2 other hermanas, Hermana Brown and Hermana Hinze. It's been 4 days and I already love them. We have gotten so close. Hna. Brown is from Mesa and was a nurse. She'll be serving in Bahia, but she'll be the missionary's nurse. It's pretty amazing! Hna. Hinze (like Hienz ketchup) is also from Mesa and is going to Nuequen. She is 5'11 and just a babe. I adore her. When we got oriented, we came back to class and our teacher started just teaching in spanish. It was crazy, but I understood most of what he said, and I was really surprised at how much I could understand. His name is Hermano Larsen and he's from Eagle! I wonder if you know him, Kristen? We met our Zone Leaders that night and they are so little. They're just small babies in suits! Haha but they are seriously so great.

Our district has 5 elders and 3 hermanas (we are the only hermanas in our zone right now!), and 6 of us are going on to Bahia, and 2 are going to Nuequen (that's where the penguins are). I LOVE OUR DISTRICT! It is seriously the best district ever! I LOVE our Elders. Elder Robertson is from Oklahoma and is so shy and so quiet. Elder Hall is so hilarious and writes notes on napkins to the kitchen crew every meal. Elder Allred is from Orem and so so nice. Elder Kelly is also so funny and loves talking to us Hermanas. Elder Harroldson is our district leader and is just so kind and is perfect for that calling. I seriously love them all like brothers and just want to pinch their cheeks every ten minutes. They are so mature and know why they are on missions. They work so hard and are so willing to learn.

The second day we studied more and I got pulled out of class. Some guy just started talking to me in spanish and I answered him the best I could. He told me he wanted to transfer me to an intermediate spanish class because I understood more than my district. Apparently, someone tipped him off! He even wanted to send me to the advanced class, then I'd leave for Argentina in 3 weeks! WHAT THE CRAZY! I don't think I'm ready for that and I definitely don't think my spanish is that good. I've been thinking about it a lot, and even though it would be a good opportunity, I would be a solo sister (no companion) and I would miss my district terribly. So we'll see what I decide... We also prepared to teach our progressing investigator, Favian. He's actually one of the teachers, but Favian is a real person, and a real convert, he's just acting like him. Did I mention we had to teach him in SPANISH!? Um, I don't know spanish yet...

On day 3 we prepped to teach Favion. We wanted to teach him about God and His love for him, so we mostly prepped on that. We had our lesson, and I think that it went as well as it could for a first lesson. I understood 80% of what he was saying, but I couldn't get my words organized to get across my message. Basically we told him that he had a loving heavenly father who was aware of him and that he could talk with him through prayer. It was amazing. This is what it's all about! That experience really boosted me up. We're going back tonight to teach him more about having a relationship with Heavenly Father.

The days are so long, but they are fulfilling. I feel like I'm learning so much already. Mornings are rough. They have exercise classes for the sisters at 6am but we have yet to make it to one. We do use our gym time well. They have a sweet gym with weights, ellipticals, bikes and resistance bands. Yesterday we did a lot of work with the reisistance bands and with pilates. It's great!

Had and Kels, thanks for the dearelders! Those are so great to get. Had- I loved your tweet from my favorite person and your story. I was almost crying from lauging. The food is ok, they have wraps and salads, so I mostly get that. There's no caffine so sometimes I get a diet coke (caffine free) and pretend that it's real. Haha oh man. Kels- I have seen Irma Wilde! She studies on the same floor so I've seen her almost every day. She is hilarious! I miss you both.

I got your package mom, the district loved it! I love healthy snacks! The only actual letters I got were from Mom and dad, and I think that's because my address is different. It's

MTC box 207

ARG-BABL 0402

2005 N 900 EProvo, UT 84604

But letters and dearelders (dearelder.com) http://www.dearelder.com/ are so helpful! They literally make my night. I would add some pictures but I don't know how yet and the little time thing in the corner is freaking me out and ticking down. Everything is so scheduled here, you barely have time to go to the bathroom! We have like 1 hr of personal time at night where we can actually go to the bathroom by ourselves and stuff, but it goes by SO FAST! Before I know it, it's 10:30 and time for bed. I've been so tired, but I think that I will adjust. The best part of the day is putting on my nametag that bears the name of Christ. Sometimes it hits me at random times... I AM A MISSIONARY! I love it. Seriously.

I hope you all are well and I love and miss each of you!Love,Hermana Squire